today's news and the week's top stories on our belfast heavy clashes in northern ireland leave at least twenty nine police. over the city council's decision to remove the british flag from most of the. security is on high alert in front of possible islamist retribution this coming after paris launched airstrikes on al qaeda militants. on the brother of venezuelan president hugo chavez denies rumors the leader is in a coma it's amid mounting concerns how the government will fare without its leader . arrested development

a notorious guantanamo bay prison camp. anniversary president obama ultimately failing to keep his promise to shut down the facility prompting an outcry from human rights groups. but the stories that made headlines this week you're watching the weekly with me rory sushi thanks for joining us today. now the spiraling protests over the flying of the union jack in northern ireland once again and in street battles between loyalists and nationalists yesterday it's been almost six weeks since the belfast city council voted to reduce the number of days the british flag is displayed or sparking the few loyalists twenty nine police officers were injured in saturday's sectarian clashes and violence broke out as about

a thousand unionists marching on belfast city hall. and were attacked by locals the police used water cannons and plastic bullets to keep the two sides apart. reports from the scene. clashes breaking out once again on the streets of belfast you can see the police are just trying to push back the crowds a. number of police rather sadly sites like this becoming all too common other to think going to have been helped by the fact that many feel inflammatory political language has helped to whip up the tensions here on the street. recreational rioting that's what some people are calling it. you can see the fate of. the police responding with. the sun right at the pain right but the scale and intensity of. much much more than just that the students the

director of the east belfast mission group is working with young protesters to try to calm the tensions some kids are doing it for fun or doing it for more sinister motives in terms of control terms of par in terms of ego some are doing it because it's sexier than the playstation you know young girls are doing it because girls even with young children we see on the streets. of fully realized what their actions can result. in some way of stopping the law and yet there's nothing about it what are the protesters here asking for just one or flag back up on one or in pays to get off their backs age peter robinson least you're not silly not them he was the one that had to start. the day forty and they fought for us to come out on the street to protest against. the nice back save maybe take all the flak he's

called was rubbish and. you know but when he wanted also it on the streets for his own actions we can make for do you think the protesters would accept any kind of compromise when it comes to this when the flag. we know we're not going to get a little action because it's the majority really. any unionist warns now to try to reengage politically that we're told much more will need to be done they'll be quick fixes here i don't think there's any silver bullet i think there's a different things need to happen economic. investment political investment community investment by and by all the stakeholders in these communities to try and resolve the wide draft of issues that are a blight here. there's been a hundred people arrested more than sixty police. and millions of pounds spent in

policing these riots and they love business very. highly localized damage has already been far reaching. this is a new generation. on to the streets of belfast it's a far cry. of northern ireland's complex that doesn't make it any less troubling. france has stepped up security in the country amid fears of islamist attacks during its ongoing operation in mali it comes off to paris helped the government drive out al qaeda linked militants from the key town of kona a french helicopter pilot was killed along with more than one hundred militants and at least ten civilians including three children a west african force is now set to join the efforts for the first troops to arrive

in the country today the u.k. has also agreed to help transport foreign troops without sending any soldiers of its own the african contingent is expected to draw around five hundred soldiers. or french president francois hollande said on saturday military support will quote go for as long as necessary. independent journalist robert believes france's foreign policy is contradictory. i think that as long as the french people aren't too bothered by the consequences of this sort of intervention they generally favorite has a great military tradition in france and they've grown accustomed to interfering other people's countries but if you if the minute it starts to get nasty i think they'll be a very quick a reversal of public opinion the sort of islamic extremists they're very tough soldiers and they've grown tougher over the last twenty years and if france starts

to find these people who have been armed as a result of the intervention in libya and all the arms of the swilling about in the in the sahara as a result of that intervention ironically instigated by france then they're going to find it's a very dangerous place to intervene that mali has requested help and they get it instantly when the central african republic requested help from the french forces there they were told are no we can't interfere to tell any particular regime were neutral. the due east if you had wanted to destroy the credibility of france and the western countries over the last five or ten years you couldn't have done a better job by the absurd contradictions and what they do. now french troops have not enjoyed the same success in somalia where it's special forces failed in their mission to rescue a hostage in the south of the country and it's fear that the botched operation left the captive secret agent dead along with two french soldiers and seventeen

militants from al qaeda as al shabaab cell apparently nine other french nationals are thought to be held hostage across africa. now the brother of ailing president hugo chavez has denied rumors the venezuelan leader is in a coma and this after thousands of his supporters rallied on the day when he should have been sworn in for another term and the venezuelan supreme court has postponed the own organization indefinitely on shop as recovers from cancer surgery pepe escobar from asia times online says that several factions including foreign agents will be wrangling for power and chavez's continued absence. shows his war is not a monolithic saying like there exists a communist party in china they're actually east for five different factions fighting for power and this is one of the problems a few we have an unsteady situation in terms of chavez house because there will be

an eternal struggle for power in sites there is more in mecca same time we're going to have more possibility just of for it in their experience trying to you know louvered this process and i mean specially our friends in washington who are old news he will see an opening well maybe this is the beginning of the end of just let's get it out. well venezuela has been increasingly attracting those seeking a better living with more and more immigrants flocking to the country and offered examines why people are trading life in countries such as the us for the south american nation with no end in sight to the financial crisis many are finding refuge in countries with an alternative economic model or some business well that represents a whole new opportunities to bolivarian republic may be a surprising choice after all it's been ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the hemisphere whose murder rate exceeds that of iraq still the world bank says

venezuela draws the largest number of immigrants after argentina with one million flocking here in two thousand and ten alone and. made them give me. rosa is one of them after decades of struggling in the u.s. she decided to start anew in venezuela by the end that come to you completely alone you go that trying to find a new way but you really alone nobody helps you there nobody in caracas the helping hand came from the government a cheap loan to kickstart a small business and subsidies that enabled her to purchase this home or see the country as a place where. you can move more freely here you have more opportunities. robust economic growth and increased spending on social projects to help create those opportunities having the state on your side in terms of the benefits is a huge thing because you don't have to worry about your basic necessities everyone

has the right to universal free health care quality health care education at all levels the government provide subsidies to start up small businesses medium sized businesses that do the same in terms of housing to help people if they're coming from a country where the economic crisis is so bad they've been cutting all those benefits begins to look like a paradise that may certainly seem to be the case for those on the bottom president hugo chavez helped bring the poverty rate down from fifty percent when he took office to roughly thirty one percent and the u.n. says venezuela has the lowest level of inequality in latin america. it's one child as diehard supporters among the poor but what about the rich critics h. offices ilya meeting the wealthy many of whom turned out in droves to vote for his opponent in october closely contended election twenty first century socialism hasn't helped us it is her job his opponents blame his so-called socialist experiment for problems like limited foreign investment they say that it's driving

businessmen and entrepreneurs out of the country. by daniel year g.'s himself a young businessman disagrees after spending twelve years in barcelona he decided to return to venezuela not just for the economic benefits he says but for the chance to partake in a different sort of future or there are two very different let's go forces in this country one man strong towards capitalism. that. the people of venezuela voted to make the country greener much fairer to create more opportunities because i mean it's really anybody's right it's like myself when i decided to return home and so they do shelling that for some gambling in venezuela system may be worth the risk you see catherine of r t venezuela. and all it is coming to you live from moscow caged without trial eleven years on the infamous guantanamo prison remains open for business despite the rights groups calling the facility to be shut down over any more of the public reaction along

with inside from for my detainees that's just a bit later on the program. and i while the u.n. peace envoy says a military outcome will not lead syria out of civil war the country is now accused of hiding nuclear weapons more than just a few. whether you die from high or to the depths. catch the power of the wind or drift in the beauty of the currents. the well prepared is a must and if you're lucky. you'll never forget your experience we only need a screen. in the flight see up close and below the ice

on our t.v. . well into the. science technology innovation hall believes developments from around russia we've got the huge you're covered. joining us here and. president obama has said u.s. forces will and most combat operations in afghanistan by the spring and switch to a mainly support role at a meeting in washington between the president and the afghan leader hamid karzai it

was agreed that in this new capacity american forces could remain beyond the two thousand and fourteen pullout hillary mann leverett who has worked extensively with u.s. diplomats in the middle east and asia i believe president karzai is in a no win situation. i think these talks are for the president and his national security principals to let afghanistan's president karzai down as softly as they can to let him know that unfortunately they're not going to make good on their promise to completely train. the afghan military and police before u.s. troops leave i think this this visit is about trying to parse i know it's as nicely as they can but they're not going to make good on their promise to continue to defend afghanistan and train up afghanistan's military i think part of it is that president obama you know after he agreed to surge the troops into afghanistan i think pretty quickly realized that he didn't realize even before the surge that

there is no military solution for the united states in afghanistan i think for an american population that is both battered financially and very tired of endless wars and occupations this is something that will basically go forward without a hitch in terms of american public opinion. on the notorious guantanamo bay in cuba eleventh anniversary this week despite president obama's four year old promise to close the most four year olds are calling for freedom for those cleared for release and for of troil of those. he's gone a reports polls show the majority of americans simply moved on. president obama's call to look forward not backward has resulted in attempts to sweep the past under the rug including some of his own promises i'm going to close guantanamo and i will follow through on that colonel morris davis was a chief prosecutor at guantanamo under george w.

bush and he later became a vocal critic of the practices there and strongly supported president obama's pledge to shut down the prison he says the perception of guantanamo in the u.s. has come a long way since two thousand and eight when he was a burning and highly controversial issue with a nation demanding action he gets a free pass on i mean the public largely could care less if the mainstream media you know here in the us. you know is more interested in car dash and then they are and what happens at guantanamo. so who's going to challenge it if we're looking for the biggest threat to america her name is kim carr daschle and her america has moved on and so has its perception of torture polls by the american red cross show the majority of americans now find torture acceptable sixty percent of young people agree whereas four years ago torture was largely condemned in the us. hollywood has

arguably contributed to that evolution of public opinion in the movie zero dark thirty day or trade the information that led to the capture and killing of osama bin laden was obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques or torture and in fact that is simply not true actual information was obtained through report based interrogation techniques the government classified everything related to its torture practices which allows politicians pundits and filmmakers the freedom to perpetuate all kinds of myths although a slew of washington insiders including the senate intelligence committee point out how torture has proved to be ineffective but in america it's often fiction not facts that make history this is more important than reality this is the movies where americans learn their history and today the history in the making is the drone strikes this amounts to the administration executing people without due

process often apps. foreign lands with a remote control but it will obama's drones generate as much of a backlash as guantanamo did for george w. bush that we've now got have a generation that only knows the post nine eleven era. where things like guantanamo and the warrantless wiretapping that's all they've ever known for a decade now and i think it has become an accepted part of life unfortunately judging by how the guantanamo controversy evolved here is what may transpire with regard to grow the urgency of the issue will subside in the u.s. because there will be no americans are dying there will be no movement. there may even be a movie or two out of the cosmological capability of the drone and once the controversy dies down it will become the new normal and america will move on in washington

i'm going to stick. and a former guantanamo bay prisoners of painful memories with us here at aussie saying that more attention has to be drawn to the fact the prison is still operating despite the condemnation. i don't know why i was released and others are not ok i mean like especially when you know that people have are not involved with anything and want to know more people who have been cleared ok at the time i don't know when i was released i don't know if i was cleared or not really i don't remember but today there are people who have been cleared and they're not out of guantanamo and i think one can but but feel uncomfortable and you feel that's. yourself that's why am i out there still and the memory of one town of course they're very clear because of what happened. the mistreatment doesn't go away easily i think it. it could've i think in those create. and the plume that will last a long years in the memories are very clear and when we talk about them kind of

these things do come back the people might have been forgotten and i'm still exists . you know it's very difficult to get the media interested into the story the way. just the same existing you're hearing is important because every individual that is locked up in one town can't see their family. and the messages that come from we send to the. disturbing in very serious misuse they have to be has through the. rest of the you know oppose this book and against the. now the u.n. and arab league peace envoy to syria said there can be no military solution to the conflict moscow has voiced its support for a political transition in syria but says president assad's exit cannot be a precondition for a deal to end the crisis and washington insists the syrian leader must step down but the pentagon now saying the u.s. could provide forces to secure the country's chemical weapons if indeed assad

agrees to a peaceful transition and there are fears the arsenal could fall into the wrong hands the u.s. and middle east experts are also saying the conflict is putting the country's your rainy i'm stockpiles at risk syria reportedly has up to fifty tons of an enriching uranium that's about enough to create five nuclear bombs and political analyst. he says western states present only one side of the conflict.

i did some research and it appears that they came up with a number because they they feel they are coming up with the story that this site that was there that was bombed in two thousand and seven would actually require fifty tons that doesn't mean that the syrians actually have fifty tons and that doesn't mean that the site is actually for a nuclear program the syrian central government was able to control more than past six months there is an advance of the syrian army and the syrian official police and they are controlling most of the country there are only some areas in the countryside where rebel fighters are in some areas in the countryside where the syrian army withdrew from these areas because they thought that these areas were not important strategically but overall this is an central government under the leadership of president assad controls most of the syrian territory obviously it's difficult because there are many fighters infiltrating from outside syria there are many a lot of money being infiltrated being pumped into syria to these rebel groups by neighboring countries especially by by turkey by qatar by other european and by

the united states there is a sponsorship of these these terror groups. i know while some people suffer from bloody conflicts others literally make fun out of them a mobile phone appear in the u.k. release a game allowing players to take part in the syrian war with the ultimate goal of bringing down president assad more details on that and r.t. dot com. also online for you after georgia's old government was rocked by a prisoner abuse scandal the country's parliament sets free two hundred political prisoners overturning a presidential veto for the first time in the country's modern history is said over to our website for more. now though russia's opposition has taken to the streets in protest against a law banning u.s. citizens from adopting russian children over police say about seven thousand protesters there though the opposition was claiming about twenty thousand would all

be taking part they claim with the law it deprives thousands of orphans of the chance of finding a loving family russian lawmakers say it's targeting the lack of legal action from the u.s. to numerous cases of death at the hands of their american adoptive parents. or let's get into it now some of the global headlines for you in brief time for the r.t. world update will start with afghanistan where officials say at least seven civilians have been killed following a blast inside a mosque in the one of that province the claim it happened shortly after local and foreign troops had come under militant fire after completing a mission and meanwhile says that there were no civilian casualties following their night raid in the area of the local media citing eyewitness accounts earlier reported that fifteen civilians were killed after coalition planes had apparently bombed the mosque during morning prayers r.t. has contacted the country's foreign ministry which has not commented on the

situation so far. israel has forcefully evicted a palestinian and international protesters from a tent camp that they had erected in the west bank to prevent the building of jewish settlements there several people have also been arrested by the building plans are illegal under international law and would split palestinians from the lands they claim in east jerusalem prime minister benjamin netanyahu has ordered the area of the so-called tent city to be declared a closed military zone and shut off access despite the high court earlier ruling that the camp could stay for six days. the family of the internet freedom activist to aaron swartz has accused the u.s. criminal justice system for his death of the twenty six year old co-founder of social news website reddit committed suicide on friday by hanging himself. faced criminal hacking charges which carried a potential sentence of more than thirty years in jail for downloading and

publishing academic papers online in an open letter his relatives claim the harsher way of charges contributed to his death saying that the young activist was driven to the edge by the government's handling of the case. and egyptian court has ordered the retrial of the ousted president hosni mubarak it follows an appeal he lodged against his life sentence in his former interior minister who's also want to reach trial with both found guilty over the deaths of protesters during the arab spring uprising of two thousand and eleven and despite today's ruling both are expected to remain in custody. you know just a few minutes here on our we take an exhilarating trip to the shores of the white sea certainly hope you can stay with us for that.

usually crime is a plague of the big cities but in a tiny arkansas town of twenty five thousand it is really getting out of hand pure gold as a property crime index of more than double the national average and rape burglary and assault are also way above average poor pergolas a dangerous place to live in but what's the answer to living in constant fear of criminals well the mayor thinks that the answer to that problem is to live in constant fear of the government how logical the mayor and police chief have a doorstop plan to send out police patrols with a ar fifteen that full swat are too i guess intimidate the local population into submission well actually the plan is for them to stand around it ask people an important question ask them to show id the answer to crime isn't a police state sending guys out with automatic weapons and body armor around just to check people's i.d.'s like it's the berlin wall or something won't do anything

a guy who breaks into your house for crystal meth money isn't going to be affected by this only the good average citizens will have to show an arm thug of their id just to go buy milk but that's just my opinion. the white see its surface remains choked with ice for nearly seven months a year. the chilly breath of the arctic ocean keeps the water freezing cold. near the coast however the high winds and bitter cold receipt. even in winter that can be seen through holes in the ice. squeals and crushing sounds can often be heard and around the.